http://mmajunkie.comFedor Emelianenko picked up his second consecutive victory in a long-awaited return to Japan.

The former PRIDE champion and Strikeforce heavyweight plastered former Olympic judoka Satoshii Ishii with stiff punches to earn a first-round knockout win.

Emelianenko vs. Ishii headlined “DREAM: New Year! 2011″ (also dubbed “Genki Desu Ka!!”), which took place early Saturday at Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan. The entire nine-hour event, which ushered in the new year in Japan, aired live on HDNet.

Early on, Emelianenko looked far lighter on his feet than in recent appearances. Ishii took a leg kick and a glancing punch before he caught a kick and attempted to wrestle the fight to the mat. Emelianenko gamely fought off the takedown and closed the distance with his fists cocked.

Ishii’s trainers could be heard imploring the fighter not to wait for Emelianenko to get going, but their calls went unanswered.

Although an initial combination of punches from the Russian was blocked, a second salvo found its way through and immediately dropped Ishii. Emelianenko closed to finish the deal, but it was clear his opponent was done. Ishii’s nose appeared to be badly broken as officials tended to him.

The official time of the stoppage came at the 2:29 mark of the first round.

Emelianenko (32-4 MMA, 1-0 DREAM) snapped a three-fight skid in November with a unanimous-decision victory over Jeff Monson. The heavyweight saw his stock plummet with losses to Fabricio Werdum, Antonio Silva and Dan Henderson, after which he was released from Strikeforce.

Ishii (4-2-1 MMA, 1-1 DREAM), meanwhile, has gone 0-1-1 in 2011.

Champ Aoki cruises to victory

Satoru Kitaoka knew just enough to keep from being choked unconscious by training parter turned opponent Shinya Aoki – but not enough to make his shot at the submission ace’s lightweight title fruitful.

Kitaoka committed to a guillotine choke when Aoki inevitably clinched in the first frame. But that proved an invitation for Aoki to escape and work his way to back mount and then a triangle/armbar attempt.

A right hand clipped Aoki when the two found their way back to their feet, but he took the fight back to the mat and kept it there.

Kitaoka fought his way out of trouble for much of the second round with Aoki at his back. But in later rounds, his task would become far more difficult. Aoki showed a willingness to strike his way into the clinch, and in doing so, nailed Kitaoka with a series of knees that prompted a stream of blood from the challenger’s nose.

Cameras shooting the fight picked up Kitaoka’s bloody wheezing in high-definition. But try as he might to finish the fight, Aoki couldn’t secure a choke, and Kitaoka wouldn’t give in for anything.

The final round prompted Kitaoka to chase Aoki around the ring in a frenzy, looking for the big shot that would erase the memory of four rounds in which he’d been dominated. He found his best success of the fight in trapping Aoki in a front headlock and launching a flurry of hard knees that found their target.

But it wasn’t enough.

The unanimous-decision win for Aoki (30-5 MMA, 14-2 DREAM) came as no surprise. It was the second defense of his DREAM lightweight belt. Kitaoka (29-10-9 MMA, 1-1 DREAM), meanwhile, sees a four-fight win streak snapped.

“Lion” blows it in title fight with Takeya

Takeshi Inoue choked.

Hiroyuki Takeya defended his DREAM bantamweight title a second time. But he didn’t have much of an opponent to with whom to contend.

Over five rounds, Inoue waited, and waited, and waited to attack. Meanwhile, Takeya poured on the offense. Aside from a few counter jabs that came his way, the DREAM champ did little but chase his foe around the ring, and it wasn’t long before his right hand began to find a home. To punctuate his lead, Takeya nailed takedowns at the end of the first and second rounds and spent much of the third grinding down Inoue.

A referee warning to Inoue in the second became a yellow card in the fourth for inactivity.

Only in the waning moments of the fifth and final round did “Lion” show life, and by then, the deficit in points was so great that anything less than a knockout wasn’t enough.

A punch staggered Takeya (17-9 MMA, 8-2 DREAM), but he survived.

Judges unanimously ruled the champ the winner, which brings his current win streak to two fights. Inoue (21-6 MMA, 2-2 DREAM) sees a three-fight streak (with all wins by knockout) come to an end.

Fernandes rides with bantamweight tourney

Bibiano Fernandes made short work of Antonio Banuelos to take his second DREAM title.

The semifinals and finals of the year-long tournament concluded at the event, and the winner earned the organization’s bantamweight title.

Fernandes, a former featherweight champ, met resistance early when he got tagged by a Banuelos punch in an early exchange. But next time around, a glancing hook took Banuelos’ balance and sent him toppling onto his back, where he soon met his demise. Standing over the fallen fighter, Fernandes fired punch after punch and eventually found his way through Banuelos’ guard.

One particularly stiff shot caused Banuelos (20-8 MMA, 2-1 DREAM) to roll, and more follow-up punches prompted the referee to call the bout at the 1:21 mark of the first round.

With the victory, Fernandes (11-3 MMA, 8-1 DREAM) claimed the DREAM bantamweight tournament belt and further solidified his status as a top-shelf prospect for an American crossover.

In the first semifinal bout of the bantamweight grand prix, Banuelos managed to avoid the constant submission threat of Masakazu Imanari. One ringside judge dissented for Imanari after the truncated two-round fight, but the remaining two called it for the WEC veteran.

Banuelos contended with a series of stiff kicks from the Japanese veteran in the opening frame, but he was successful in staying on his feet and landing the occasional shot.

Imanari (24-10-2 MMA, 4-3 DREAM) turned up the pressure in the second frame and managed to trap Banuelos on the canvas for a few brief moments. However, his attempts to find a submission proved fruitless, and soon, he was lolling toward another takedown attempt. Meanwhile, Banuelos gradually found his range with punches and kicks that racked up valuable points and ultimately swayed the majority of judges.

In the second semifinal bout of the bantamweight tournament, Fernandes punched his ticket to the finals with a dominant decision win over Rodolfo Marques Diniz.

All three judges ruled Fernandes the winner after two rounds of action that saw him control a downed Diniz in the first round and win a striking clash in the second.

Fernandes and Diniz exchanged frenzied leg kicks in the opening moments of the bout, but it was Fernandes who gained top position when the two tumbled to the mat in the ring’s corner. There, Fernandes tenderized Diniz’s flanks with elbows and punches, and more sharp elbows dug into Diniz’s thighs.

Nova Uniao protege Diniz (14-2 MMA, 0-1 DREAM) wanted to get the fight to the mat pronto in the second frame but was denied the chance. Fernandes won the ensuing firefight with a looping right hand that wobbled him. And there was no respite against the ropes; Fernandes found his way back to the center of the ring and continued to land power hooks that damaged.

In the end, Diniz was stuck tying the action up against the ropes as time ran out. Badly down on points, the outcome was little in doubt.

Kikuno victorious in mixed-rules bout

In a mixed-rules bout kicking off the second half of the event, kickboxing specialist Yuchihiro Nagashima failed to embarrass another seasoned MMA fighter.

Instead, he was nearly embarrassed in the round dedicated to his specialty when Katsunori Kikuno cut superior angles and repeatedly punished him with punches aided by the four-ounce gloves mandated for the fight.

Nagashima twice came to the brink of defeat in the first round before briefly sending Kikuno to the canvas with a punch. Somehow, both survived despite three standing eight counts issued in the frame.

Kikuno was at first unsuccessful in taking Nagashima into his world and seemed to lose his striking edge as the fight continued to play out on its feet. Eventually, though, he scooted to the kickboxer’s back and dragged him to the ground, where he pounded away with punches until the referee called the bout at 2:34 of the second, MMA-rules frame.
Fujii easily handles Benitz

The matchmaking joke that Megumi Fujii vs. Karla Benitz presented in the imagination proved to be the same in reality.

The virtually undefeated Fujii came out aggressively with strikes but soon changed levels for a takedown. Benitez stuffed the first attempt, but in a slick transition befitting of a master grappler, Fujii grabbed a leg and used it to get top position and stand over her foe.

There, Fuji (25-1 MMA, 1-0 DREAM) fired down a punch and simply launched herself on Benitz (6-2 MMA, 0-1 DREAM) and took an arm as she pleased. With a roll and a crank, the tap-out came not long after Benitz’s limb was hyperextended.

The official time of Fujii’s victory was 75 seconds into the first frame.

Any advantage Miyata may have had was nullified when Kawajiri dragged him to the mat and nearly cinched an arm-triangle choke in the first frame.

Miyata had more success on his feet and tagged Kawajiri with a stiff left in the second and wobbled him with another punch as the two collided in the ring’s center. But Kawajiri just powered Miyata onto his back.

Miyata eventually escaped and managed to drag Kawajiri to the mat and threaten with a choke from the back, but he was bucked off before he could finish.

Kawajiri (30-7-2 MMA, 10-2 DREAM) would repeat his initial strategy in the third frame, and the second time around, Miyata (11-9 MMA, 4-3 DREAM) could not escape when he passed guard and locked in the arm-triangle choke.

Miyata’s submission came at the 4:54 mark of the second frame.

Sakurai tops buddy Chonan

Former opponents and friends Hayato “Mach” Sakurai and Ryo Chonan served up a mostly civil slugfest, but it was Sakurai’s mat work that made the difference.

After several indecisive striking exchanges, Sakurai edged ahead on the judges’ cards in the first with a glancing left hand that sent Chonan to the canvas. There, he stayed in dominant position and set the tone for the fight.

Although Chonan was able to avoid damage on his back, it took him too long to get back to his feet.

After three rounds of fighting, Sakurai (36-12-2 MMA, 5-4 DREAM) was awarded the unanimous-decision victory, but a late-fight rally from Chonan (20-13 MMA, 1-1 DREAM) made things interesting. Down on scorecards, “Pirana” turned up the heat and rocked Sakurai with an overhand right with a 90 seconds left in the bout. But he overextended himself in a follow-up attack, and to the mat he went.

Chonan’s punches, however, did significant damage to Sakurai’s face. At the sound of the final bell, he looked far worse for the wear.

Had the onetime UFC welterweight spent less time in top position, his lead on the scorecards might not have been as comfortable. But his superior grappling was impossible to ignore.
Tokoro badly knocked out in tourney-alternate bout

The event got off to explosive start when Hideo Tokoro was knocked out cold in the opening moments of his bantamweight-tournament reserve bout with Yusup Saadulaev.

The official time of the stoppage was 42 second into the first round.

Tokoro launched himself at Saadulaev with a flying knee to get the fight started, but Saadulaev absorbed the blow and soon righted himself after a scramble on the mat.

The two soon clinched, where Saadulaev (9-1-1 MMA, 1-1 DREAM) worked to Tokoro’s back and suddenly hoisted him into the air, slamming him headfirst to the mat. Tokoro (30-25 MMA, 8-8 DREAM) went out cold, and follow-up punches were unnecessary. The Japanese fighter remained on the canvas for several scary moments before he was collected onto a stretcher and escorted out of the ring.

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